Unsaturated sulfonamides of chlorosulfonated olefin polymers



greater than 10,000, the nitrogen United States Patent UNSATURATED SULFONAMIDES OF CHLORO- SULFONATED OLEFIN POLYMERS Grant Thompson, Wilmington, Del., assignor to E. I. du Pont de N emours and Company, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application July 24, 1956 Serial No. 599,687

13 Claims. (Cl. 26079.3)

This invention relates to curable elastomers and more particularly to novel derivatives of chlorosulfonated polyolefins curable by sulfur.

In the search for new elastomers, chlorosulfonated polyethylenes have been developed, which are curable by means of certain divalent metal oxides, notably litharge, as described in U. S. Patent 2,416,061, to give products of adequate to good physical properties and exceptionally good stability and chemical resistance, including resistance to the eiiects caused by ozone and by outdoor exposure. The physical properties of the cured chlorosulfonated polyethylene in which improvement is desirable, are resilience and resistance to deformation (compression set).

Moreover, the special metal oxide method for curing these elastomers is not entirely satisfactory. Large proportions of the metal oxides are required for good cures and litharge must be used if the cured product is to have good water resistance. Litharge is somewhat costly, must be handled with care because of toxicity, and gives the cures an undesirable yellow color. Recently, it has been found that certain copolymers of ethylene with higher olefins may also be chlorosulfonated to give elastomers. Although these are substantially superior in some properties, they still are in need of improvement in such properties as resilience and compression set.

It has now been found that elastoniers having the desirable characteristics of chlorosulfonated polyethylene but capable of being cured with sulfur to give vulcanizates of improved resilience and related properties may be made by treating the chlorosulfonated products with the appropriate unsaturated amines.

It is an object of the present invention to prepare elastomers capable of being cured with sulfur to give vulcanizates of improved resilience and related properties by treating chlorosulfonated polymers with unsaturated amines.

More specifically, this invention is directed to unsaturated sulfonamides of chlorosulfonated polyolefins curable by sulfur.

This invention relates to a sulfur curable chlorinated saturated polymer of a terminally unsaturated olefin, substituted by the grouping SO NR R in which R is hydrogen or alkyl and R is an alkenyl group of from 3 to 8 carbon atoms in which the double bonds are separated from the nitrogen by 'at least one CH group, and the total number of carbon atoms in both R and R is not more than 22, the original hydrocarbon polymers being normally solid and having a molecular weight content being within the range of 0.2 to 1.5% by weight of said product.

The chlorosulfonated polymers used as starting materials may be made by the process of U. S. Patent 2,586,363 of McAlevy, which process relates mainly to polyethylene.

Other chlorosulfonated polymers which are particularly useful as starting materials are made by copolymerizing at least two monoolefins, each monoolefin being 2,852,497 Patented Sept. 16, 1958 terminally unsaturated, and containing not more than 6 carbon atoms, each monoolefin preferably being present as a component in the copolymer to an extent not greater than 60 mol percent and said copolymers containing from 5% to about 35% of chlorme and 0.5% to 3.0% of sulfur; a catalyst is normally used and is preferably one containing titanium with a valence of less than 4. Such catalysts, which may also be used for the polymerization of ethylene, are convemently made by a reaction or a lithium aluminum alkyl with titamum tetrachloride in a hydrocarbon solvent which may also serve in the carry log out of polymerization, although catalysts made, for

example, by the reaction of Urignard reagents or certain nnely divided metals with titamum tetrachloride or catalysts made from compounds or transition groups IV to v1 or the periodic table in place of titanium tetrachloride may also be used. lhe polymerization may take place at ordinary temperatures and pressures; it is usually convenlent to allow the temperature to rise spontaneously from uou" U. and the rate or reaction may be increased by increasing the concentration or the monomer, by pressure or increasing the temperature, or both. 'lhe monomers are usually added simultaneously to the catalyst solution over a period or' several hours and in the ratio in which they .are desired in the copolymer.

'lhe chlorosulronauon or the meme polymers is convenleuhy carried out in an inert solvent such as carbon tetrachloride, by nrst adding chlorine and then a mixture or chlorine and mum dioxide. A reaction imtiator may be used as is more particularly described in U. 5. latent L,JUJ,LJA and u. b. l'atent A,JU,AJJ. 'lhe chlorosul- IULlttLCG roducts may be isolated by removing the carbon tetrachloride or other solvent in which they are made, by steam distillation or by evaporation on a'drum drier in which the dried nun can be removed rroni the drum as a SCAI-SuPPOIILlIIg, continuous Iilm suitable for further processing. bullltiDle staoiuzers tor the product are epoxy com ounds such as the condensation products or epicuioi'ohyurin with diphetiols.

the olenns used to mate the polymers referred to above may be ethylene, propylene, outene-l, hexene-l, etcz, alone or together. lxepresentativc copolymers are the ethylene propylene copolymers, ethylene butene-l copoiyihers, propylene butene-l copolymers, ethylene hexehe-l CUPUlyUJCI'S, and copolymers or ethylene propylene and outelie-l. r'retera-oly, ethylene will be an important component, that is, it will be present in the polymeric material to the extent or 40 to Prererably, the higher olehhs will not contain more than six carbon atoms. 'lhe polymer or copolymer will have a molecular weight or at least 10,0Uu and the upper limit be determined only by the requirement that the viscosity of dilute solutions in organic solvents of the polymer and its chlorosulronated product should not be so great that chloro- SlllIOnflUOIl and other reactions cannot be advantageously carried out therein.

'lhe sulrur content of the chlorosulfonated product, from which the unsaturated amides ot' the present invenhon are made, will, in general, be between about 0.5 and about 4%. The total chlorine content will, in general, be between 5 and 40%, the higher proportions, 25 to 40% being best for polyethylene, and the lowerproportions, 5 'to 35% being best where propylene and higher oletins are present.

The amines used to make the unsaturated sulfonamide groups of the above definition are represented by NHK R where R is hydrogen or alkyl and R is an alkenyl group of from 3 to 8 carbon atoms or pentadienyl in which the double bonds are separated from the nitrogen by at least one -CH group and the total number of carbon atoms in both R; and R is not more than 22. Thus they are either primary or secondary,

the secondary amine being preferred. Examples of the unsaturated groups (R which may be used are allyl, methallyl, butenyl, pentenyl and octenyl. R may be hydrogen or an alkyl radical of from l to 18 carbon atoms such as butyl, octyl, cetyl, or octadecyl, but is preferably methyl or ethyl. R and R are chosen so that together they contain not more than 22 carbon atoms.

The reaction between the amine and the -SO Cl groups of the chlorosulfonated polyolefin is preferably carried out in an inert solvent, such as an aromatic hydrocarbon, using an excess of the amine. The reaction takes place at ordinary temperatures and may be assisted by raising the temperature, up to 100 C. or higher. The number of sulfonamide groups and hence the nitrogen content of the products may thus be regulated by choosing a chlorosulfonated polyolefin of the proper sulfur content, assuming that substantially all of the sulfur is in the form of SO Cl group and that substantially all of these react to form SO NR R Increasing the number of SO NR R groups (as shown by the nitrogen content) increases the number of reactive unsaturated groups to be cross-linked by the action of the sulfur, applying the currently held theory of vulcanization. Irrespective of theory, however, the ability to vulcanize increases with the nitrogen content. Elastomers with 0.2 to 1.5% nitrogen are suitable for curing. Below this range the elastomers are hard to cure, while above this range they cureso rapidly that scorching becomes a factor. The preferred range is 0.4 to 0.8%.

The vulcanization of the unsaturated substituted sulfonamides of the present invention may be carried out like thevulcanization of natural rubber, usually using sulfur and preferably a vulcanization accelerator and a small amount of zinc or magnesium oxide. Various modifications of sulfur curing are particularly described in Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Kirk and Orthmer, Interscience. Encyclopedia, Inc., New York, 1953, vol. 11, pages 892-927. These modifications are applicable here. The present elastomers may of course be cured in a typcial gum stock, such as is used in the examples for the purpose of comparison, or in reinforced or highly loaded stocks, containing carbon black, finely divided silica, esterified silica, clay, magnesium and calcium carbonates, and the like. The known pigments and coloring agents may also be used.

Example 1 A solution of 40 g. of chlorosulfonated polyethylene containing 27.14% chlorine and 1.45% sulfur in 400 cc. of toluene is distilled until no more water separates from distillate. The solution is then heated at 60 C. and 17.0 g. of N-ethyl allylamine is added. The reaction mixture is agitated at 60 C. overnight. The prodnot is isolated by pouring into 400 cc. methanol. The sticky polymer is transferred to a Waring blendor, a vessel agitated with high speed sharpened blades, with 200 cc. of methanol and chopped up to small pieces. The polymer is filtered and the process of agitating for five minutes in the blender is repeated twice with methanol and twice with water. The product is washed on the filter with methanol, sucked dry and air-dried overnight to give 39 g. of polymer which has excellent behavior on a rubber mill. The product contains 0.51% nitrogen.

(a) The product- (100 parts) is compounded with 5 parts magnesium oxide, 1 part mercaptobenzothiazole, 2 parts benzothiazyl'disulfide and 2 parts sulfur and presscured at 154 C. for 60 minutes to give the following properties:

4 (b) An analogous product prepared with piperidinc to contain 0.5% nitrogen is cured in the same manner to give vulcanizates with the following properties:

M 430 T 1000 E 600 Compression set percent 99 Shore hardness 60 Yerzley resilience percent 64 B 400 B 280 Compression set percent Shore hardness 50 Yerzley resilience percent 52 This shows that the chlorosulfonated polyethylene it self is not cured to a significant extent by sulfur.

(d) When 100 parts ofthis chlorosulfonated polyethylene is compounded with 40 parts of litharge, 2.5

parts of hydrogenated rosin acid, 0.75 part of dipenta-- methylene thiuram tetrasulfide and 0.75 part of henzothiazyl disulfide and press-cured for 30 minutes at 153 C., a vulcanizate with the following properties is obtained:

M 2200 T 2250 E 305 Compression set percent 57 Shore hardness 66 Yerzley resilience percent 70 This shows that the original chlorosulfonated polyethylene, even when cured in the formula especially designed for it, is deficient in resilience and particularly as regards to compression set.

Example 2 Chlorosnlfonated polyethylene (30 g.) containing 27.45% chlorine and 1.57% sulfur but otherwise similar to that used in Example 1 is dissolved in 300 cc. of'dry toluene by agitating at room temperature for 2 hours. To this is added 1.6 cc. of allyl amine and the reaction mixture is stirred 4 hours at room temperature. The product is isolated by adding slowly with vigorous agitation 300 cc. of acetone, then cc. of 2 to 1 acetonemethanol and finally 300 cc. of methanol. The fluocculent precipitate is filtered, washed with methanol and then airdried. The product (28 g.) can be handled conveniently on a rubber mill. It gives a vulcanizate similar to that of Example 1.

Example 3 A solution of 40 g. of chlorosulfonated ethylenepropylene copolymer containing the oiefins in the ratio of 1:1 and containing 18% chlorine and 1.6% sulfur in 1000 cc. of toluene is distilled until no water can be detected in the distillate. The solution is cooled to 60 C., 25.7 g.

of N-ethyl allylamine is added, and the reaction mixture agitated at 60 C. overnight. The polymer was isolated I B 3150 E 400 Compression set percent 42 Shore hardness 65 Yerzley resilience percent 78 Many widely ditference embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof; it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the specific embodiments thereof except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A sulfur curable chlorinated saturated polymer of at least one terminally unsaturated olefin substituted by the grouping SO NR R in which R is taken from the group consisting of hydrogen and an alkyl radical of from 1 to 18 carbon atoms, R is an alkenyl radical having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms, R and R having a total of not more than 22 carbon atoms, the double bonds being separated from nitrogen by at least one CH group, the original hydrocarbon polymers being normally solid polyolefins of a molecular Weight greater than 10,000, the nitrogen content being within the range of 0.2 to 1.5% by weight of the substituted polymer.

2. The chlorosulfonated polyolefin of claim 1 wherein the sulfur content is within the range of 0.5 to about 4% by weight of said polymer.

3. The chlorosulfonated polyolefin of claim 1 wherein the chlorine content is within the range of 5 to 40% by weight of said polymer.

4. The process of preparing a sulfur curable chlorinated saturated polymer of at least one terminally unsaturated olefin, substituted by the grouping SO NR R in which R is taken from the group consisting of hydrogen and an alkyl radical of from 1 to 18 carbon atoms, R is an alkenyl radical having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms, R and R having a total of not more than 22 carbon atoms, the double bonds being separated from nitrogen by at least one CH group, which process comprises reacting a normally solid chlorosulfonated polyolefin of a molecular weight greater than 10,000 with an amine represented by the formula NHR R R and R being as above defined.

5. The process of claim 4 wherein the chlorosulfonated polyethylene is reacted with an excess of the defined amine in an inert solvent.

6. The process of claim 4 wherein the chlorosulfonated polyolefin derivative has a nitrogen content Within the range of 0.2 to 1.5% by weight of said derivative.

7. The process of claim 4Wherein the chlorosulfonated polyolefin derivative has a nitrogen content within the range of 0.4 to 0.8% by weight of said derivative.

8. A sulfur-cured chlorinated saturated polymer of at least one terminally unsaturated olefin substituted by the grouping SO NR R in which R is taken from the group consisting of hydrogen and an alkyl radical of from 1 to 18 carbon atoms, R is an alkenyl radical having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms, R and R having a total of not more than 22 carbon atoms, the double bonds being separated from nitrogen by at least one CH group, the original hydrocarbon polymers being normally solid polyolefins of a molecular weight greater than 10,000, the nitrogen content being within the range of 0.2 to 1.5 by weight of the substituted polymer.

9. The chlorosulfonated polyolefin of claim 3 wherein R is ethyl and R is allyl.

10. The chlorosulfonated polyolefin of claim 3 wherein R is hydrogen and R is allyl.

11. The chlorosulfonated polyolefin of claim 3 wherein R is butyl and R is allyl.

12. The chlorosulfonated polyolefin of claim 3 wherein R is methyl and R is allyl.

13. The chlorosulfonated polyolefin of claim 3 wherein R is ethyl and R is methallyl.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,416,069 Scott Feb. 18, 1947 2,615,000 Bradley Oct. 21, 1952 2,646,422 Strain July 21, 1953 2,723,257 McAlevy Nov. 8, 1955 

1. A SULFUR CURABLE CHLORINATED SATURATED POLYMER OF AT LEAST ONE TERMINALLY UNSATURATED OLEFIN SUBSTITUTED BY THE GROUPING -SO2NR1R2 IN WHICH R1 IS TAKEN FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF HYDROGEN AND AN ALKYL RADICAL OF FROM 1 TO 18 CARBON ATOMS, R2 IS AN ALKYL RADICAL OF FROM 3 TO 8 CARBON ATOMS, R1 AND R2 IS AN ALKYL RADICAL HAVING MORE THAN 22 CARBON ATOMS, THE DOUBLE BONDS BEING SEPARATED FROM NITROGEN BY AT LEAST ONE -CH2- GROUP, THE ORIGINAL HYDROCARBON POLYMERS BEING NORMALLY SOLID POLYOLEFINS OF A MOLECULAR WEIGHT GREATTHER THAN 10,000, THE NITROGEN CONTENT BEING WITHIN THE RANGE OF 0.2 TO 15% BY WEIGHT OF THE SUBSTITUTED POLYMER. 